crampon hints for downhill

sierra said:

I found that micro-spikes are not nearly as reliable on the type of rock you describe even using the French technique. They will fail on hard ice, imo. I find that MS work better on soft ice, if its very cold and icey, I'm in crampons, as a soloist I do not trust MS under those conditions.

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OK. It is possible that the points of a Stabilicer might be more predictable and less inclined to roll underfoot on slanted ice. I was pleasantly pleased (perhaps even surprised) with the French Technique performance of the Stabilicers, but the points were pretty new and the temp wasn't too cold so the ice might have been a bit soft.

Microspikes are pretty dull--only sharp crampons work well on hard ice. Ice climbers have been known to carry a file with them in case the points need a touch-up or get dulled by bashing them into a rock. In contrast, I have seen hiking crampon points that were effectively 1/8 inch diameter hemispheres...

Doug

Dammit, sierra, I wanted to be the first here to mention the French technique ..... Took the helium right out of my balloon!!!

I think Tom Rankin beats you both, because he mentioned zig-zagging in post #2. I'll claim second place because I mentioned Chouinard's book, and keeping crampons flat ("pied a plat", en francais), in post #8. You're just going to have to jump in earlier on thee threads...

Nope. Post #4. Read it and weep.

French Technique has been mentioned on this BBS a number times over the years. I mentioned it in a post in Dec 2005 and I expect that others had already mentioned it earlier.

Crampons were originally developed in the 1890s and front points (for "Austrian Technique") were introduced in the 1930s (ref Chouinard) so French Technique has been in use for quite a while...

Doug

When I encounter a tough, icy downhill, I use an ice axe, cane style. It's a slow technique, but I usually feel stable this way. I'm 5'10", and use a 70 cm axe, but I'd use a longer axe if I had one.